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Comment by anonymousDan | Hacker News Reader

For any non-Europeans looking to explore Europe by rail, I can highly recommend getting an Interrail ticket that gives you unlimited rail travel for various durations. For a reasonable price you can get a multi zone ticket that will let you explore most of Europe for a very reasonable price.

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Non-European citizens can't use Interrail. There's a similar product called Eurail but with the discounts available for advance-purchase tickets, the pass often doesn't make sense if you're traveling with a relatively specific itinerary and can plan ahead.

The surcharges on the various high-speed trains really killed the cost-effectiveness of the Eurail pass.

edit: There's a good overview of why the Eurail pass if often a bad option at Seat61: http://seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#Should you buy a railpass or pay-as-you-go

> Non-European citizens can't use Interrail.

Not true. You have to be a resident to use Interrail. So if you don't have a European passport, but live there, you can still use Interrail.

Note also, "European" here means a lot more countries than the EU. Other eligible countries of residence include: Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Vatican City.

Source: http://www.interrail.eu/help/ordering-pass/do-i-need-interra...

Whole lotta folk from San Marino! May as well mention sea land then.

Actually, if you reserve well in advance the surcharges are much smaller, even on high speeds. But I agree, it's situational.

It's only cheaper if you take only the most expensive possible routes

BUT, you can use it to get on any train in Europe even if only by confusing the local conductor with a complicated Eurail pass, even if it's fully reserved or not part of Eurail.

You can't just hop on any train anymore, that's the problem. Many high-speed routes require reservations and a surcharge. Those are also the trains most likely to have conductors who actually know the rules.

Eurorail is a complete waste of money. The companies who sell it in the US are there to screw you over.

Interrail is only really worth it if you are under 26. If you have to get the "Adult" price then you only save money if you travel very frequently on expensive routes (e.g. once ever 2-3 days). Also you have to deal with the hassle of using interrail - nobody knows how the hell it works, you can't book tickets online!, you have to pay supplements on many journeys but again nobody knows which ones and how much.

Worth it if you're under 26 though because it is much cheaper.

It is also nice for Europeans :-)

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